The poem describes the life of a tiger trapped in a zoo cage, contrasting it with how the tiger should be living freely in the jungle. The tiger paces around its small cage with quiet rage, when it should be lurking and hunting prey under the cover of shadows. It ignores visitors to the zoo, when it should be terrorizing villages at the edge of the jungle. At night it hears patrolling cars and stares at the stars, confined while remembering its natural habitat. The poet's message is that wild animals belong in their natural environments rather than in cages.

1. CLASS X
FIRST FLIGHT
A TIGER IN THE ZOO
BY: LESLIE NORRIS

2. INTRODUCTION
The poem written by Leslie Norris explains the
agony and helplessness of a caged tiger that lives
in a zoo. The poet explains what his life could be
if he had been a free animal. The poet has tried
to explain about the condition of animals that
are caged by human beings for their own fun.

3. He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage,
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.
He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!
But he’s locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars,
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.

4. He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.

5. DIFFICULT WORDS
1. Stalks: follows
2. Vivid: bright colored
3. Pads: paws of tiger
4. Rage: anger
5. Lurking: To be hidden as to wait for your prey
6. Snarling: warning sounds made by animals
7. Baring: uncovered
8. Fangs: Sharp tooth of animals
9. Concrete: building made of bricks, cement, sand and
water
10.Patrolling: to guard, to vigilate

6. He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage, STANZA 1
On pads of velvet quiet
In his quiet rage.
EXPLANATION
The tiger moves here and there in his cage. The
strips on his body are of strong bright colors. He
is full of rage but is quiet because he knows that
he is helpless here.He further says that the tiger
can take only a few steps because the cage is
small. The tiger tries to control his anger by
quietly walking in the limited area of his cage.

7. He should be lurking in shadow,
Sliding through long grass STANZA 2
Near the water hole
Where plump deer pass.
EXPLANATION
The poet is filled with pity. He says that the poor
tiger should be in his natural habitat. Then at this
point of time he would have been lying in the
shadows of trees and sliding quietly through the
long grass to catch a deer. The poet wants to say
that the actual life of a tiger is to live in jungle
where he could catch his prey and eat it but the
tiger in the cage can not do so.

8. He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge, STANZA 3
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village!
EXPLANATION
The poet says that if the tiger would have been
free, he would have snarled around the houses
located at the outskirts of the forest. He would
terrorise people with his sharp tooth and claws.
This would create fear among the people living in
the villages.

9. But he’s locked in a concrete cell,
His strength behind bars, STANZA 4
Stalking the length of his cage,
Ignoring visitors.
EXPLANATION
The poet sees the tiger trapped in a concrete cell
in the zoo. He is imprisoned behind the bars. He
ignores the visitors who came to zoo to have a
look at him. He just stalks in the cage. He never
tries to terrorise the visitors because his power is
restricted by the cage.

10. He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars, STANZA 5
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
EXPLANATION
The poet says that in the night, the tiger hears the
sounds of the patrolling cars. Patrolling cars are
the vehicles of police which are used to guard at
night. He then stares at the shining stars with his
shining eyes. The poet wants to say that the tiger
is sad and as he is confined in the cage, he cannot
do anything. Therefore, he stares at the stars in
the night and tries to divert his thoughts towards
them.

11. THEME
The poet compares the life of a tiger in the Zoo
with its life in its natural habitat.
The poet conveys an important message that the
wild animals should be kept in their natural
habitat. In zoo animals feel angry, helpless and
unhappy and remember their life and
environment in the forest.
The poet effectively portrays the hardships of
animals in the cage and humans should
undertsand that animals should be kept in their
natural environment only.